


The Only Difference

by CeruleanMusings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anorexia, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Bulimia, Canon Compliant, Eating Disorders, Gen, Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-20
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2017-12-27 03:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/973897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanMusings/pseuds/CeruleanMusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>-Set during OotP- No one can see the difference between Fred and George. George is the only one who sees it and he's the only one who can do something about it. Warning: anorexia, bulimia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This can also be found on FF.net, just in case someone thinks I'm plagiarising. My penname there is the same, just remove the underscore.

"Hey George," Fred called through the third-floor bathroom door as he knocked. "Breakfast is ready. You better hurry before Ron eats all of the good stuff."

"I'll be down there in a second," George called back as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Just save me something."

"All right."

George continued to look at his reflection in the mirror as he heard his footsteps fade away. He could hear Ron rushing down the stairs from his room and then he knew that he was alone upstairs. He sighed and splashed water on his face before looking at his reflection once more.

A slightly different version of Fred stared back at him. His hair used to fall into his eyes but he had recently cut it short because of his Mum's wishes, but it was more like nagging to him. Unlike Fred, George had a mole on the right side of his neck and by his nose. That was the only way Fred and George were different.

But George could see something else.

He pulled his t-shirt off over his head and looked at his stomach. Someone else would have seen a flat, hard stomach. But what he saw was flab. He pinched his stomach skin as his breath came out shaky.

' _That's the only difference between Fred and I_ ' George though as he let go of his skin and looked up at his pale face. _'I'm uglier than him. I'm bigger than him. If I can see it the others can too. How come I've never noticed it before?'_ He rested his hands on the sink as he lowered his head and tried not to cry. _'Why can't I be as skinny as Fred? He's slim and muscular and I'm just a blob_.'

George could hear the scraping of silverware over plates down in the kitchen as he grabbed his t-shirt and pulled it down over his head. _'Fred and I are supposed to be alike, otherwise we wouldn't get away with our tricks.'_ George spun that theory around in his head. _'I have to get thinner.'_


	2. Dear Diary...

George slowly made himself walk down the three flights of stairs to get to the kitchen. The sounds of talking and scraping got louder as he got closer and closer to the kitchen. He finally came down and saw Fred, Ginny, Ron, his mother, and his father sitting at the table. He sat down and looked at the end of the table that was empty. Things were somewhat quieter now that Percy had moved out after that row he had had with his parents.

Sometimes he missed having Percy around, the only form of entertainment that he and Fred now had was to play small tricks on Ron. Besides that they were too busy creating new jokes and tricks that they would use to open up their own joke shop with the money that Harry had given them the year before.

"Is that all you're going to eat?" Fred spoke up so suddenly George jumped in his seat. He looked down at his plate and saw that he only had two pieces of sausage sitting on his plate.

"Yeah, I'm not that hungry," George responded as he shrugged and stabbed a sausage link with his fork. Across the table Ginny gave him a suspicious look but she didn't say anything as she continued eating her breakfast. A loud bang caused them all to jump and they turned to see that their owl, Errol, had crashed into the window again.

"George, go fetch Errol," Mrs. Weasley told him. He nodded before pushing back his chair and going to the window. He held out his hand and Errol jumped onto his palm. He ran a finger along the owl's wings and across the smooth feathers. George smiled slightly before taking the letter that was in his beak and looking at the front as he walked back to his seat.

"It's for you, Mum," he said as he held it out. "Dad too."

Mr. Weasley took the letter from George before he sat down. He stabbed his sausage with his fork and stared at it before taking a small bite. He engrossed himself in a conversation that Fred, Ginny, and Ron were having about Quidditch teams, not that he cared much. Sure, he loved Quidditch as much as the next person but sometimes he wanted peace and quiet too.

"Fred, George, Ron, it's time to degnome the garden again," Mrs. Weasley quickly added as she rushed back into the room. "Ginny, clean your room and then clean the bathroom." Ginny's brother's laughed at the look of disdain that was on Ginny's face before she stood and gathered her plates.

"Get finished as fast as you can," Fred whispered to Ginny. "Then you can come out and play Extreme Exploding Snap with us."

"We have to be more careful this time," Ron pointed out. "Mum practically had a fit when George lost his eyebrows. And _that_ was an accident."

Fred and George laughed at the memory before following Ron outside to the front lawn. George stopped to turn around and take a look at their house. Other people would see it as a run down shack that was about to fall over but George saw it as home. Ever since he was younger he loved the look of it, how it was the most original house in the whole neighborhood. Sure, he had to deal with the taunts from other families, namely the Malfoys, but he tried to ignore it the best he could.

"George, look out!" Fred suddenly cried. George turned his head to see a garden gnome flying towards him. He whopped out his wand and quickly cast a levitating spell and the gnome hovered in midair. He turned and tossed the gnome over the fence. "Sorry, mate," Fred apologized as he clapped George on the arm. "I didn't meant to throw it at you. It just bit my finger, that's all."

"No harm done, Fred," George said with a small smile. Fred smiled back before he went to find another gnome that was wandering around. George's smile faded as he turned to find a gnome of his own to grab. Each one he got tried to beat him up before he put a stunning spell on them, which cracked Fred up. George bit his lip before spinning around and letting one go so it went flying over the fence. They did that for about twenty more minutes before all of the gnomes were cleared. George turned to go back inside the house.

"George, aren't you going to play with us?" Fred asked. "It's better when there are four people playing."

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few, I just want to do something," he responded before lifting the window and opening the back door to the kitchen. He closed it behind himself before rushing up the stairs. He passed by Ginny's room and paused in the door way to see her throwing clothes into a pile as she pulled them from underneath her bed. "Having fun?" He asked with a laugh.

"I'd have more fun if you'd help me," she responded as she backed up and placed her hands on her hips. George looked around, pulled out his wand, and muttered a levitating spell. He directed the pile of clothes over to the basket that was in the corner of her room. He then put a spell on that and made the basket soar out of the room and down to the area where the clothes are washed. He flicked his wand once more and everything in the room that was messy was put back into place. The entire room was back in order. "Thanks George, I owe you one," she said as she hugged him.

He stiffened when her arms wrapped around him. _'She can probably feel my fat spilling over the top of my pants.'_ He couldn't stop the thought from coming into his head but he pushed it away when he hugged her back. "I'll keep you on that offer," he said as he ruffled her hair. "Hurry up outside. I'll be out there in a few minutes."

Ginny rushed out of her room, her red hair flying behind her like a trail of fire. George watched her go before continuing up to his room. He closed the door behind himself and flicked his wand as he fell onto his bed. He caught his diary which flew towards him and opened it. He sighed heavily when he looked at the entries that he put in during the school year.

_October 31_ _st_

_Halloween is finally here! I love Halloween at Hogwarts. Fred and I can get away with any trick that we wanted. The other students would blame it on Peeves. Halloween is my Christmas. Fred and I are thinking of a big trick to play on Professor Flitwick but we need a lot of supplies to get it done. I was going to play a trick on Ron since he's so afraid of spiders but Fred beat me to it. He had a better idea too, he turned Ron's pillow into a spider in the middle of his sleep. You should have heard his screams! Sometimes I wonder how Fred comes up with these awesome tricks but he does so badly in some of our classes. Well, we always believed that our lives would be lived better outside of academic achievement. I can't wait until I get out of Hogwarts one day. But I'm also scared at the same time. I don't want to leave Fred but I know eventually I'll have to. I hope that time doesn't come too soon. He's my best friend._

_-George_

George flipped a couple of pages before looking at another entry that was written in somewhat poor handwriting. Only because he was rushing to write it.

_January 17_ _th_

_Fred has been spending a lot of time with Angelina. He really likes her but he won't admit it. He's too afraid even tell me. The only way I know is because I've been following him around, trying to figure out why he's been blowing me off lately. It really hurts to know that Fred would rather be with Angelina than me. Well, we_ are _around each other a lot more than other siblings are. And we do have to spend some time separated. But when Fred blows me off just to go hang out with one of my friends it gets me thinking._

_Is there something wrong with me?_

_-George_

He flipped some more pages and got to an entry that was written in red ink.

_March 12_ _th_

_I never realizes it until now but Fred seems to be the controlling one out of us. Don't get me wrong, sometimes he is smarter than me in some fields but I would like to get my opinion across too. It bothers me when he doesn't listen to what I have to say. Usually they stop us from getting in trouble or from being blown up. He just doesn't listen sometimes. I guess it's my own fault for not sticking up for myself. I asked Alicia and Katie how they would describe Fred and me. They said Fred's the loud one, always charging into action. They said I'm the quiet one and I always think things through. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Fred lets me take charge in what we're doing sometimes but most times I think he doesn't let me because I usually have second thoughts when we do it. I never realized how different Fred and I actually are. Maybe it's a good thing we're not the same or else we'd be lumped together for the rest of our lives. Not that it's a bad thing, but sometimes I'd like to do things on my own._

_Is it so bad to want to be by myself and be my own person?_

_-George_

Sighing, George pulled an ink bottle down onto his bed as he picked up a quill. He dipped it in the ink before writing.

_June 4_ _th_

_It's the first week of summer and I finally found the once HUGE difference between Fred and I. After long years of searching I have come to a conclusion. I'm fatter than Fred is. This is the only time I don't want to be different from him. I don't know how this happened, maybe it's from all of the candy that I ate every year for Halloween. They finally took their toll. I have to take the weight off somehow. I heard about how some Muggles lose weight by lowering their food intake. That seems to help, maybe I can try that._

_-George_

George closed his diary and picked up his wand to move it back to where he hid it. Not even Fred knew where it was. George quickly grabbed it and stuffed it under his pillow when Fred burst into the room. That was the only thing that got on George's nerves the most about him, he never knocked. He just bared right in. It was his room too so George never complained about it as much, but he hated it when Fred came in when he was changing.

"C'mon Georgie, we're waiting for you," Fred said. "So get your lazy arse out of bed. Mum and Dad are in their room so we can get away with it this time. They're busy with something. And it's not _that_ kind of something."

"All right," George said as he moved his ink bottle to the nightstand to his right before getting off of his bed.

"Are you ok?" Fred asked in concern. "You don't seem…excited. And this is your favorite game?"

"I'm still a bit tired, that's all," George responded.


	3. My Protector, Always...

"Aww, George, I'm sorry," Fred apologized as the two burst into their bedroom. George was holding his head as Fred, holding onto his arm, guided him over to his bed. He sat George down and tried to get him to move his hand but George held it in the same spot. "George, I can't heal you if you won't move your hand," he said patiently as I pulled his wand out of his pocket.

"I can do it myself," George said hastily as he tried to push Fred away.

"Let me, I all ready have my wand out," Fred said as he pushed George's hand away. He winced a little when he saw the bleeding gash that was on George's forehead. It started at his hair line and moved down to his right eyebrow.

"Do you want to kill me with that too? Or did the branch do enough damage?" George asked bitterly as he wiped the blood off of his forehead but it started to bleed once more. He growled in frustration as he continued to wipe the blood. With his free hand, Fred grasped the hand that George was using to stop the bleeding.

"Episkey," Fred muttered as he lightly pressed his wand against George's gash. George sucked in a breath of air when the wand tip pressed against his gash, causing pain to shoot through his head. He let go of his breath when the gash healed itself and the blood rested on his skin. "Scourgify." The blood on George's forehead disappeared as Fred removed his wand. "There you go, mate. You're all better."

"That's the last time I play that game with you. It's always me who ends up getting hurt."

"You don't mean that," Fred said with a laugh. "You can take much worse things than a game of Extreme Exploding Snap. I mean, you take on bludgers at every Quidditch game and we take on Snape, who is pretty scary in his own way."

George stayed silent as he glared at the wall; the poster of The April Fool moved above him, silently laughing about a paint-bomb exploding in a victim's face. It only cheered George up a little bit. George heard his mattress groan as Fred lay down on the bed next to him. George rolled over so he was looking right into Fred's brown eyes.

"George, what's been bothering you lately?" Fred asked as he squinted at his twin. "You're more irritable. You're acting like a girl. Not that they're bad, but their mood swings are dangerous things."

"Nothing," George said as he shook his head. "I'm just...stressed. Thinking of new inventions and such, no big deal. I'm fine."

Fred sighed before he responded, "I wish you would stop lying to me, George." He let the sentence hang in the air before rolling off the bed and getting to his feet. He crossed the room, opened the door, and all but slammed it shut behind him. George let out his breath and lifted his eyes so he was looking at a picture that was sitting on his dresser. It was of Fred and him when they were younger and they went to their first Qudditch World Cup. The two were sitting on the bottom bunk of their bunk bed. The picture started to move and it showed them throwing dungbombs at Percy when he wasn't paying attention. He was dragged along and was determined to not have any fun and the twins wanted to make their stay more enjoyable.

That same day they went off to explore the woods. George got attacked by an unknown creature and Fred fended it off by throwing rocks at it. _Like always, Fred has to protect me. I guess I'm the weakest Weasley. Even Ginny is better at magic than me. Where do I fit?_


	4. Relocation

"Ok, I think this one will work," Fred announced as he held up what looked like a worm.

"Why don't you test it?" George mumbled from his bed as he held his stomach. The twins were trying to create their own candy that they thought of selling to students. The candy was designed to make the buyer sick if they chewed one end, that way they could get out of class. If the buyer chewed the other than they would suddenly feel better than before. Fred has created several different types of candy and each one he had made George test, causing different effects. One piece of candy even caused George to hiccup foam. George hiccuped so much that it must have seeped underneath the door and onto the stairwell because their mother burst in, almost catching them. Fred managed to make the foam disappear before she came in.

"If I test it on myself I might end up like you are right now," Fred responded with massive amounts of 'duh' oozing from his words.

"It's nice to know you care," George snapped as he continued to hold his stomach and stare up at the ceiling. He shifted his attention when what looked like a piece of a candy bar floated into his view. He glanced over at Fred with an accusatory look on his face.

"It's safe," Fred told him.

"The word safe coming out of your mouth makes me scared," George mumbled although he smiled a bit.

Fred rolled his eyes. "Will you just eat it? It'll make your stomach ache go away, I promise." Fred placed his hand over his heart and George knew that he was telling the truth, which was actually hard to believe because Fred took to spinning tales instead of telling the truth any day. He grabbed the candy out of the air and stuffed it into his mouth. He could tell that Fred was watching him chew. George swallowed and waited for a couple of seconds. Suddenly, the ache in his stomach dissapeared. George sat up, smiling at Fred. "Told you so." Suddenly, pounding footsteps reached their ears and they quickly waved their wands to put everything away. Right as the last thing settled into place Molly burst into their room.

"Hey! Have you ever heard of the word 'privacy'?" Fred asked.

"We don't go bursting into yours and dad's room," George added. Then he shuddered."I don't even want to know what goes on in there."

"We don't have time for this boys," Molly said as she waved her wand. Trunks appeared out of nowhere and their clothes came zooming out of their closets. Fred ducked when a book when flying past his head.

"What's going on, Mum?" George asked, just then noticing the scared look that was on her face. Fred noticed it too and the smile dropped from his face so their faces were identical and laced with concern.

"Pack you things. And meet us downstairs and don't delay," was all she said before she scurried out of the room. Once the door closed Fred went back to his desk.

"Fred!" George cried out.

"What?" Fred asked in annoyance.

"You heard Mum."

"How can I not? She's always yelling at me, even when I don't do anything wrong."

"She said to pack up and meet downstairs," George told him.

"I said I heard her, Georgie."

"So? Aren't you going to do what she said?"

"When have I ever done what Mum said?" Fred asked as he turned in his chair to face George, with a raised eyebrow.

"True," George admitted. "But I think Mum meant it this time."

"When hasn't she-"

"Fred!"

"Ok, ok!" Fred put his hands up in surrender. "I admit, Mum was kind of off." He waved his wand and everything went into his trunk in perfect order. He waved his wand again and the two trunks were lifted into the air and zoomed out of the room. The twins followed the trunks all the way down into the kitchen where the rest of the family was gathered. Ron and Ginny looked confused and concerend at the same time as their parents rushed around the kitchen. "Mum, what's going on?"

"We have to leave for a little bit," Molly responded as Arthur went out the door, the trunks following him to the car.

"Why?" Ginny asked. "What's wrong with the Burrow?"

"Nothing, dear. We just have to leave."

"Where are we going?" Ron asked once Arthur came back in and ushered them outside.

"No time for questions, just get in the car," Arthur said before getting into the drivers seat. Fred, George, Ginny, and Ron all sat in the back as Molly joined Arthur in the front. Before they knew it they were flying high above the clouds. Fred, Ginny, and Ron eventually fell asleep while George stayed awake, looking out the window. He felt Fred's head rest on his shoulder before feeling his slow breathing on his neck. George smiled a little as he looked at the peaceful look on his brother's face.


End file.
